"Crude oil" and "Synthetic polymers"

You will be assessed on your ability to:

5.6 understand that crude oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons
5.7describe and explain how the industrial process of fractional distillation separates crude oil into fractions
5.8 recall the names and uses of the main fractions obtained from crude oil: refinery gases, gasoline, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil and bitumen
5.9 describe the trend in boiling point and viscosity of the main fractions
5.10 understand that incomplete combustion of fuels may produce carbon monoxide and explain that carbon monoxide is poisonous because it reduces the capacity of the blood to carry oxygen
5.11 understand that,in car engines,the temperature reached is high enough to allow nitrogen and oxygen from air to react, forming nitrogen oxides
5.12 understand that nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides are pollutant gases which contribute to acid rain, and describe the problems caused by acid rain
5.13 understand that fractional distillation of crude oil produces more long-chain hydrocarbons than can be used directly and fewer short-chain hydrocarbons than required and explain why this makes cracking necessary
5.14 describe how long-chain alkanes are converted to alkenes and shorter-chain alkanes by catalytic cracking, using silica or alumina as the catalyst and a temperature in the range of 600–700°C.
5.15 understand that an addition polymer is formed by joining up many small molecules called monomers
5.16 draw the repeat unit of addition polymers,including poly(ethene), poly(propene) and poly(chloroethene)
5.17 deduce the structure of a monomer from the repeat unit of an addition polymer
5.18 describe some uses for polymers, inlcuding poly(ethene), poly(propene) and poly(chloroethene)
5.19 explain that addition polymers are hard to dispose of as their inertness means that they do not easily biodegrade.
5.20 understand that some polymers, such as nylon, form by a different process called condensation polymerisation.
5.21 understand that condensation polymerisation produces a small molecule, such as water, as well as the polymer.